


Carousel

by DragonSilk



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Drama, Established Relationship, F/M, Relationship Issues, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-06-09 09:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6900046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSilk/pseuds/DragonSilk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing about a relationship with Seto Kaiba is normal. A normal relationship would be hard enough, but with Kaiba...</p>
<p>With Seto Kaiba, it's all on his terms or not at all. No real relationship can survive like that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cheers Darling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlexC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexC/gifts).



> So yes, this is new. I'm thinking it'll be like "Paint Me Envy". The idea behind "Paint Me Envy" was to tell a short story and update it frequently. I actually wrote that entire story between April and June of 2011. So expect frequent updates of varying length. Also, this will have flashbacks to the beginning of the relationship, just like Paint Me Envy. 
> 
> I reserve the right to change the title and/or up the rating. 
> 
> Also, dedicated to AlexC because the reader character is an actress just for her~ I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy!

The limousine was waiting for you out front. The driver had arrived fifteen minutes ago. He was used to waiting on his clients, but you apologized nonetheless. 

You had been ready to leave, but your boyfriend still wasn’t home. If you wanted to make it on time to walk the red carpet for your movie premiere, you would need to leave soon. Still, you had yet to call your boyfriend to ask him where he was. You expected him an hour ago. He prided himself on not being late. If he wasn’t here, he wasn’t showing up. 

This was your first big role in a movie. You took a deep breath and studied yourself in the mirror. Your makeup had been expertly done. There wouldn’t be time to redo it if you cried. 

Holding the phone an inch away from your face, you pressed the button to call your boyfriend. 

“Kaiba.” 

You cut to the chase. “Where are you?” 

“At work. Something important came up.” He sounded irritated. 

If he wouldn’t give you details, you wouldn’t ask. “Well, I hope it was more important than me.” You hung up.

He didn’t call you back. He probably felt like your outburst had been a tantrum that he didn’t deserve. 

He deserved worse, in your opinion, but you didn’t have time. You had a red carpet to get to. 

With one last glance in the mirror, you reassured yourself that you looked fantastic. The dress was made for you, and accentuated all your best features. Your makeup was perfect. You hair never looked better. 

As you slid into the back of the limousine, you’d never felt more confident. It was Kaiba’s loss.

The limousine pulled up to the entrance for the red carpet, and you took a moment to brace yourself for the lights and questions. Yes, you might be alone, but you were the female lead for this movie. The reception for the movie was looking positive so far. Nothing could ruin this night for you. 

As you stepped out of the limo, you grinned at the flashing cameras. Tonight was your night to shine. 

You stepped forward to the first group, and struck a pose as the photographer took a picture of you. You wondered if maybe your boyfriend had refused to practice any “couple” positions with you because he knew that he would end up flaking on you tonight. 

Either way, it worked out for the best. You knew all your best angles and could pose on your own. 

Reporters were shouting questions at you, and the one that kept getting shouted over and over was, “Where’s Kaiba?” 

They should be asking about the movie that you just starred in, but of course, since you showed up to the premiere alone, the focus was on your boyfriend. 

Trying not to let Kaiba overshadow your big day, you simply replied that he had an emergency at work. Then you turned to a reporter who had actually asked you about the movie. The reporter wanted to know how you felt about your role. “I loved this character. She’s so insane, but it’s so subdued that nobody noticed until it was almost too late. The crazy ones are the most fun to play.” 

As you worked your way down the carpet, you were disappointed by the amount of questions that were about Kaiba instead of the movie.

Granted, most of your questions related to the movie focused on stupid things like your wardrobe. (No, you didn’t know what the inspiration was behind the design of your _shoes_.) So maybe the reporters just couldn’t think of anything interesting?

Once you were halfway down the red carpet, you were ready to just storm the rest of the way down. Sure, that might lead to some terrible publicity tomorrow, but you were done with every single question that had been thrown your way. 

Then you overheard a question that was directed to your male co-star, and you had to crash that party. “Did you just ask him about his character’s motivations?” You grinned at your co-star. “I just assumed he wanted to get laid?” 

Izumi laughed. “Yeah, that’s about it. He just wants to ruin the girl that his brother loves.” 

“The girl who convinced him that his brother was his enemy.” You smirked at him. It had been fun playing a manipulative backstabber who ruined an entire family. 

“That’s right. Your character plays him like a fiddle!” Izumi threw his arm around you. “Now she’s got the great background motivations.” 

The reporter wasn’t interested. “How about a picture of the two of you?”

You smiled for the camera as you posed with Izumi. After the shot, the reporter thanked the two of you as you stepped away and continued your trip down the red carpet. 

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Izumi whispered to you. 

“Work. I assume.” You continued to smile for the cameras but rolled your eyes at Izumi. “He said he was too busy.” 

Izumi took your arm. “Well, I think I’ll claim you as my date tonight, then. Shall we?” 

Knowing that the pictures of the two of you would cause a media storm tomorrow, you smiled at him. “We shall.” 

True to his word, Izumi claimed you as his date and walked the rest of the way down the red carpet with you. The two of you were able to work off of each other easily, and it made talking with the reporters a lot of fun. Once inside the theater, Izumi insisted on sitting with you. The two of you ended up sticking together for the rest of the evening. It might make headlines, but you couldn’t care less at this point. Izumi had saved you from a night alone.

Kaiba, the man you were supposed to be able to rely on, had abandoned you. He never even tried to call you. By the end of the night, you knew that there was no way you would be going back to the mansion.

_What am I darling?_


	2. Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics from "Smoke" by Pvris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Fourth of July! 
> 
> I feel like Kaiba would be the type to quietly seethe if he's angry about something. For some reason, I can't see him as the type who would shout. I headcanon him as the type who would keep his sentences clipped and short and speak in a lower tone of voice when he's truly pissed. 
> 
> I can't really say enjoy, but still, enjoy?

The bed in your condo was unfamiliar to you, and your sleep was restless because of it. Throughout the night, you kept waking up, wondering why you weren’t at home, searching for a familiar body in the bed. You didn’t get much sleep, and the next morning, you found yourself wide-awake at 7am, unable to go back to sleep. 

You missed Kaiba. Even if he didn’t sleep as much as you did, he still came to bed with you every night, and you were used to having his body there for most of the night. 

When the two of you first started sleeping together, actually sleeping together, it had been hard to sleep with another body in the bed with you. How long did it take you to become used to the second body? 

You couldn’t recall. 

When would you become used to sleeping alone again? 

The kitchen was practically empty. A sign of a place that wasn’t lived in. You would need to make a list. You would need to go shopping. Things that you weren’t used to doing. Did you have enough money to pay someone to do it for you? 

You were realizing that living with Kaiba had handicapped you. He paid people to keep the mansion running. You hadn’t had to bother with things like grocery shopping or cleaning or laundry for quite some time now. 

Starting a life without him would be daunting.

You checked your calendar, trying to figure out how much personal time you even had for the day. 

Your very first appointment was with your personal trainer… at the Kaiba Mansion. Yet another reminder of the way you relied on Kaiba. His personal gym allowed you to get your ass kicked by a trainer in private. You didn’t have the space for a personal gym in your condo. Without Kaiba, you would have to join a gym. 

You sighed, knowing you would have to go to the mansion. You couldn’t cancel on the trainer on such late notice. Well, you could, and he would bill you for the time anyway, but you needed to get in shape for your next role… so it really wasn’t a choice. At least Kaiba would be at work by the time you made it to the mansion. 

You didn’t even have any workout clothing in your condo. In fact, the only clothing you could find needed to be donated. Most of it was hideous, and you didn’t think any of it fit. 

The dress from last night was not an option. 

After a bit of scrounging, you decided that you would need to pray nobody saw you on the way to the mansion. You threw on a pair of jeans that were loose in places they shouldn’t be and a basic t-shirt. Then you pulled your hair up and looked for a pair of sunglasses. You didn’t find any, but you did locate a trucker hat. It would have to do. You gathered your hair up and tucked it all under the hat. Then you were faced with the problem of how to get to Kaiba’s. You didn’t have a car at the condo and a paid driver had dropped you off last night. 

Could you keep relying on Kaiba by calling one of his drivers? 

Deciding to take a risk, you called a cab. Security wouldn’t let a cab through the gates at the mansion, but you could walk up to the mansion from the front gates. It would be a nice warm-up to your training session. 

Nobody was lurking outside your condo… at least, you didn’t see anyone, but the paparazzi could be sneaky. You instructed the cab driver to take you to the Kaiba Mansion, and the look that he gave you clearly said he thought you were a crazy fangirl. So at least he didn’t recognize you yet. He would eventually though. You didn’t have cash, so the moment you handed over your credit card to pay, he would know exactly who you were. 

You got lucky. The security guards recognized you when the cab pulled up to the gate, and they helped you get out of the taxi, stopping the photographers who were hanging out near the gates from getting too close.One of the men pushed you toward the gate and informed you that he would handle your fare. 

You thanked him, but the other security guard grabbed you and pulled you through the gates, so you didn’t know if he could hear you. 

Once you were through the gates, you hurried toward the mansion, trying to get out of the photographers’ sights before they were able to take too many pictures of your unfortunate outfit. It was probably too late. You were already destined to be on the cover of some magazine as the worst dressed tomorrow. 

At least you would be on the cover? 

At this point, you would consider yourself lucky if your outfit was the only thing that got published. The fact that you spent the night at your own place after getting stood up by your boyfriend wouldn’t look good to anyone. If any of those sharks even caught a hint of blood in the water…

You needed to call your publicist. If you didn’t let her know what was going on, you couldn’t expect her to do her job. First you needed to figure out what to tell her. 

When you walked into the bedroom that you shared with Kaiba, all of your thoughts stopped. “What are you doing here?” You weren’t prepared to find Kaiba just sitting there in your room. 

“Reading reports.” He set his papers and pen aside so that he could stare at you. He kept his expression blank, but having the full focus of his blue eyes was enough to make you nervous. You couldn’t remember the last time you had his undivided attention like this. 

His tactics weren’t anything new to you. He stayed quiet when he wanted people to talk. It often caused people to say more than they planned. It didn’t work on you anymore. Instead of asking him why he was at home instead of at work, you turned away and started gathering a workout outfit from the closet. 

You changed in the closet, knowing it was silly. Kaiba had seen you naked more times than you could count. All the same, you still wanted some privacy this morning. 

When you emerged, he was still staring at you. You paused for a moment and stared back at him, maintaining eye contact for as long as you could. Then, without another word, you left the room and headed for the mansion’s gym. 

You refused to be the first one to break. He owed you an apology, not the other way around.

_Baby, I could burn you down._


End file.
